There are lots of Instagram profiles. Few stand out.
Welcome back to the tenth installment of our Social Spotlight Series! We’ve decided to start highlighting accounts that stand out in our feeds so we can share insights about what makes them successful. Our Social Spotlights focus on Instagram pages that have valuable lessons for marketers, entrepreneurs, influencers, and anyone else who wants to optimize their Instagram.
Today we’re talking about @popshopamerica, a one-of-a-kind company that offers DIY craft kits along with curated lists of available DIY projects from Etsy and other small businesses across the United States. From products to classes to DIY kits, Pop Shop America is connecting people with exciting, handmade crafting opportunities and knickknacks.
Featured Profile Overview
With over 20,000 followers in about seven years, Pop Shop America has seen slow but steady growth. The Instagram page exhibits good coloration and a strong aesthetic, featuring many different styles while maintaining a cohesive look. All images have a muted, hazy, pastel filter that goes over the top of all their contrasting striking colors. The founder, Brittany Bly, makes many behind-the-scenes, poppy, new-age type posts that accent her products very well.
The bio is filled out well and has a LinkTree, which is a good standard practice. Most brands in this position have their logo in the profile picture, but the @popshopamerica account features a candid picture of the founder. It’s very clear and pointed that this is not a corporate Instagram profile, which is also revealed in all of her posts, captions, and bio. She seems to be making the statement that she’s not running the account as a business – she’s curating products for her loyal following.
What We Think Is Working
When it comes to the products she features, the founder has chosen a niche of giving back to her community. The products on @popshopamerica’s page are tagged in many different posts, and because the companies who she features tag her back, this provides lots of social proof and leverage. It shows that these are real businesses offering top-notch products.
The founder has a mini-course that seemingly converts well. By offering a class, she transitions herself from any regular artist to an industry expert. The LinkTree for the mini-course page leads to another page with a good call to action and social proof, but it could use another CTA. We also like that she changes her product offerings as culturally relevant events happen.
What We Dislike
Pop Shop America’s Instagram account is strong, with one notable exception. The LinkTree in the bio provides way too many choices. There should be four links at the very most, but she has six, and even chooses to send visitors away from her website to places like Buzzfeed.
The Pop Shop America website also has problems. Most importantly, almost every visual needs work. The use of colors decreases readability, and sometimes the images overlap, covering up important information. Her landing page has too many options and offers no social proof until you reach the bottom of the page.
She serves up what she believes the customer wants right now, instead of giving them the opportunity to choose the experience they want to have.
There are nine different menu options, which makes it difficult for potential customers to figure out where to go to find the product they want to buy. Also, there’s no bridge content from Instagram to help viewers know for sure that they landed on the right page.
The site is too confusing because there are way too many options. It’s difficult to know what the action is that she wants people to take coming from her Instagram.
Analytics / Insights
The engagement rate for @popshopamerica is about 1%, which is slightly below average. Two to four years ago, when she used to make more personal background posts, her engagement was higher than it is now that it’s filled with product posts and almost no personal stories.
Ultimately, the IG page is the product. Monetization breakthroughs are going to come from not only diversifying her content (making sure that she’s figuring out ways to exploit vertical video, leverage her current following, and take it onto other channels) but also other conversion points, which means monetizing the list of companies that she’s built.
While the founder currently runs promos and small-level monetization at the affiliate level, what is she doing to cash in on this personal brand, either quarterly or once a year, for a higher profit margin?
Key Takeaways
While her Instagram page is fairly strong, the owner needs to take the BuzzFeed options off of the LinkTree link. Without these links the customer is left with three options: shop, join a class, or learn more. On her website, an exit pop could be utilized to take the reader to the BuzzFeed links if she really feels the need to share them.
There should be more emphasis on the products themselves, and possibly a campaign to have customers take pictures of the products and create unboxing videos, so that potential new community members can see and feel more compelled to join.
Tune in next week to see our eleventh installment of the Social Spotlight Series. Join our mailing list to get Goodwin knowledge and insights like this delivered straight to your inbox!